Immigration likely to be major issue for Congress

President Barack Obama's re-election and the increased attention to the voting power of Latinos in America may lead Congress to soon undertake its first serious look at changing immigration laws since the George W. Bush era.

Comprehensive immigration reform, likely to include some pathway to legal status for illegal immigrants as well as new enforcement procedures, is an objective that eluded Obama and his Republican predecessor.

Bush's support for new immigration policies was not strong enough to overcome opposition from conservatives in his own party. Obama has said he wanted to see Congress address immigration during his first term, but his administration never produced a bill for lawmakers to debate.

Observers expect the past election, however, will set the stage for immigration reform to return to the forefront of political discussions after Obama is sworn in for his second term.

"I believe something will pass. It's totally in the political, policy and moral perspective of the president," said Loyola Marymount University political scientist Fernando Guerra.

Whether such a bill can pass, however, may depend less on the president's political pronouncements than on the direction the Republicans who control the House of Representatives choose to take on immigration policy.

A popular post-election narrative holds the GOP must broaden its appeal to Latinos, Asians and women or risk becoming a party that represents few besides older white men.

Some say the Republicans may be able to accomplish this by accepting immigration policies that allow illegal immigrants to remain in the country.

For example, Carlos Gutierrez, Bush's secretary of commerce, is forming a super PAC to support Republicans who want to include a path to legalization as a part of immigration reforms.

"These immigrants who come across, and what they do wrong is risk their lives, and they come here and they work because they want to be part of the American dream. That is what the GOP is," Gutierrez said in recent remarks taped for CNN.

If the GOP leaders embrace Gutierrez's views, it would be a sharp repudiation of the many rank-and-file Republicans who have elevated border security to the top of the party's concerns since the 1990s.

Advocates for strict immigration policies have not changed their views since the Nov. 6 election.

Ira Mehlman, spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, or FAIR, said he expects Congress to debate amnesty for illegal immigrants, but his group opposes such a plan.

"It's exactly like saying, `Let's eliminate speeding on the highway by setting the speed limit to 200 miles per hour,"' Mehlman said.

"We should say to people, `If you have certain qualifications, you're welcome to apply. If you don't, it's not going to happen,"' Mehlman said. "What we want is fewer people coming (and ) more people who are likely to succeed in this country and benefit the general welfare of this country."

Guerra, director of Loyola Marymount's Center for the Study of Los Angeles, predicted Congress will produce a bill combining some border security provisions with others making it relatively easy for young people brought into the United States illegally as children to obtain legal status.

Earlier, similar proposals are known as the Dream Act.

"It will almost give them amnesty and a quick path to citizenship," Guerra said. "For other immigrants, it will grant them a more stringent path to citizenship."

That view is similar to one expressed earlier this month by Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who respectively appeared on CBS' "Face the Nation" and NBC's "Meet the Press" to express their support for immigration reform.

Graham and Schumer both said in their appearances the federal government should provide illegal immigrants with a way to achieve citizenship provided they learn English.

The senators also called for legislation making it harder for employers to hire illegal immigrants.

The president has already issued controversial orders to provide youths brought into the country illegally a means to avoid deportation.

Known as "deferred action," the policy echoes the Dream Act and has also been criticized as an end run around congressional authority.

The Homeland Security Department announced deferred action in June.

Immigration attorney Rosa Elena Sahag n, who is based in Riverside, said many families who may be eligible for the program were afraid to apply before the election because they feared a Mitt Romney administration would have used the information they submitted against them.

Sahag n is now among those who expect to see Congress consider immigration policies that would favor illegal immigrants who are seeking legal status.

"Based on voter turnout," she said, "we're finding that a lot of them in office who were unwilling to touch the subject are willing to talk about it, if only for political reasons."